Jumping into July: Frugal Friends Financial Fun

[needastrongoneagain]

New 'Fred.

Very low spend couple of days.

£12 AdBlue but that's expenses.

Will be back to post fully later.

Beg your pardon that was the wrong link ,it was the last one this is the new thread.
https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/christmas/4878762-christmas-bargains-prequel-2023-thread-the-final-prequel-before-the-main-event?reply=128645307

Hope everyone is good. Things are crazy at work. I've booked my car into a garage for Friday. I've been having a problem with my full headlights. They work fine most of the time, but every now and again when I go to switch them on, all of the car lights go off! The receptionist said that the mechanic will look at it but it may be a wiring issue and if so, I may to take it to an auto repair place. So I may need to pay on the double. I haven't been driving much in the dark because of summer and the brighter evenings, but I need to get it sorted before winter comes in properly. Aside from the cost, it's a pain not having my car when it's in for a service because we're a one car household. And I may need to get a lift from/to the auto repair place.

Also having an issue with my shower.

Anyway, I'm meeting a friend for breakfast on Saturday morning and then I've dinner for my brother's retirement on Saturday night. Sunday should be a LSD.

Don’t worry -mrs we will never roll our eyes at you 🤗
girlie that’s crap, you work so hard and have just taken on extra hours I know, it’s really rubbish when you don’t even feel the benefit.
tayto sounds like an expensive month for you too.
I need to book DD’s car in for service and MOT…I am paying cause DS will be using it more when she goes to uni - she’ll leave it at home. I may even start to use it more than my big family car as it’s cheaper to run and more environmentally friendly 😳

Evening all.

My fingers and toes are crossed Need and Newimproved.

Glad you had a lovely holiday Curls.

Bugger about the floor Girlie. Things like that always feel like a kick.

Spending today was £4.10 in Waitrose and £6.55 in Asda. Asda had Bonne Maman on offer so I bought two jars.

At the office tomorrow so I’m hoping no spending. Will take the bus again. It means the commute is about three hours each way but I save nearly £10. I’ll make the most of it before I get bored. Having a quiet evening watching the athletics and looking at rucksacks online.

Thanks everyone, I've spent the evening feeling sorry for myself but will pick myself up and be more positive tomorrow! Martha I think you asked about the extra hours, my contracts not been changed yet but I do at least a couple of bank shifts a month. I need to talk to my boss about when I can start doing the extra 5 hours officially.

Looking at what floor fitters earn I'm thinking about a career change anyway 😉😂

Good luck gcse peeps

Girlie I hope you've woken up and moved on
Tayto that's annoying about the lights, it's the fiddly jobs that are costly isn't it? Good to get it sorted before it becomes a nuisance in the darker evenings.
Is it an electric shower?

Additional spends yesterday €21.78 top up shop, not really topping up as I didn't shop since Dunnes delivered Wed of last week. I need to get back into routine, and this weekend is a great time for that with back to school happening.

€8 on a 7" pizza
Car failed NCT but not very serious and I've only got one part replaced in car since I bought it 7 years ago so I think I've done well. It's booked in for next Wednesday. So I estimate bill including service will be €300-€400 I've some money budgeted for it and I won't have a €200 weekly bill for childcare after tomorrow so it'll be grand. Going to check what I've paid on car over last few years and start filling that budget category weekly from here on in.

Dm reimbursed for my birthday present plus an extra €25 so that'll replenish my emergency fund which I borrowed the money for.

In a week or two I'll give exh the back to school bill and get his share. I'd budgeted for all of it myself so his 50% back is bonus money, I'm going to put it towards clothing for dc and myself as our wardrobes could do with help.

I cut out Now TV a few weeks ago I was on a discount rate for 6 months €3 a month but I wasn't using it and neither were the dc so I got rid.

I must find out price of school bus & childcare for ds only going forward also.

Reading this it sounds like I'm planning a budget overhaul so I guess that's what I will do!

Afternoon

You sound very organised @Happierwithouthim re finances!

Hope you feel a bit more positive today @Girliefriendlikespuppies, don't forget how well you manage. I remember you buying that house, you never thought you'd ever own one, you've done brill.

Long commute @RumBananaSundae ....!

Bugger re the car @Taytocrisps, such a faff these things

Bargain charity shopping there @TheNewlmprovedMrsMadEvans

School shoes are really expensive aren't they @CurlsandCurves, I can see folk seeking cheaper alternatives these days.

Leeds fest parents, we are unfortunately (for a few days at least) in one of the surrounding villages. If you do have very specific concerns then let me know as I'm sure I'll know someone with kids there or actually going themselves under the residents tickets. They will be bedraggled messes by the end and will sleep for another 3 days 🤣

Spends
£118 Sainsbury's for the weekly shop.

It's been a good month for us here, I've not touched the extra money I have from paying off the lump sum re the mortgage, and I've £100 sundry spends left over. Not counting my blessings too much, I need new wellies for our holiday and a few bits. Technically would be out of our holiday budget but if I've a few quid left over, so might as well take from this.

Always something to spend the money on!!

Ah, festival season. Smells like GCSE spirit.

DS back to Leeds today, having built the path yesterday, then slept for about 11 hours last night. Got a full weekend's work, starting at 9 tonight. With his pay this month he'll come within £200 of clearing his overdraft - almost free!

Ddog at groomers. I am getting holiday clothes ready and cleaning the bathrooms. Dinner tonight will be cheese omelettes. Anyone else enjoying the World Championship athletics? Josh Kerr's run in the 1500m last night was magnificent!

BigSkies yes we watched the Athletics too it was a brilliant run from Josh Kerr ! When he filled up talking about all the sacrifices his parents had made for him , it was all so worth it , he came across as a lovely young man , they must be busting with pride . Well done to your Ds for doing the path and nearly clearing his overdraft
Need thank you re the charity bargains
That is so kind of you to offer to help for the Leeds fest bless you
Excellent budgeting !
Happier well done on your finances great job!
Glad your car won't cost too much too
LIfe yes thank you for the heads up , hope all the DC had good results for their GCSE's
Girlie glad you are keeping positive & yes to how much carpet and floor fitters earn lol !
Tayto sorry about your car , they are just money pits
Rum my DD2 does a 3 hr each way commute once a week , it's exhausting for you .
Primark £17 Dh wanted some cheap T shirts
Morrisons £16 fruit, veg , milk and bread
Petrol £30 8p a litre cheaper just for shopping around a bit 140.9 in Sainsbury

Gosh, a 3-hr commute each way is a bit much for me!

sorry about the flooring Girlie, I feel your pain. I am still smarting from the ridiculous (unbudgeted) cost of my underfloor insulation. When the children ask me what they are getting for Christmas I can’t point to that so am going to point to our new patio doors 🙄😂 (it’s defo what I’ll be getting for Christmas!)

hope the GCSE news was good, my goddaughter did well so I am pleased for her.

DH had his surgery on Monday, he is tender but recovering.

house spends are still insane, other spends pretty reasonable. I might be nearing the end of the house spends at last though (other than the contract costs), as I’ve bought flooring, tiles, most appliances, bathroom fittings etc. Just need a dishwasher and boiling water tap (get me!), light fittings for the hallway and naice light switches. There’s also a space for a wine fridge but that might have to wait a few months, especially if there are any more costly surprises!

Unfortunately we’re not as far along with the works as expected and so I’ve had to delay the delivery of the kitchen as there’s no room to store and shuffle it around until the floors are done. And because they couldn’t delay by just one or two weeks due to lack of alternative delivery slots, it will now come three weeks later. That means that we’re going to have to move back into the house with no back doors on it, no kitchen, no living space downstairs ( due to large amount of furniture and builders’ shit stored in the sitting room), no washing machine and possibly no hot water. I really don’t know how the DC will cope just living in the bedrooms and with all the noise and mess, but with accommodation being so scarce and expensive and school term starting by then we’ll have no choice. Argh!

in the meantime I need to buy some gifts for the family that have lent us their home. The 11-yr old boy is my conundrum - any ideas? Was thinking £20-30ish. he’s a scout, plays tennis, bit of gaming…

Right, need to sort dinner. Thai chicken curry with a sauce kit, my cooking mojo has deserted me.

Spends today £105 two tyres from Kwik fit
£5 for sweets for Mum from the local shop .
@HalfWomanHalfChocolate how about an online gift card for his particular game console
Hope your DH is continuing to recover well
Raining here again today hey ho!

ah bugger I fell off again.

have had a few crazy weeks. Every things ok but man it’s been tough.

DH had covid. Kids on school hols. Work has been mental. Home life crazy.

but finally seeing light at the end of the tunnel.

Sorry to hear that em that sounds rubbish! Hope everyone is ok now. Will you get any chance to catch up and rest?

Hope you’re feeling OK today Girlie. I’ll join you in the career change. I was considering joining the circus.

Phew on the car issues not being serious Happier. I need to do something about my TV too. Had an exasperating response to my complaint from Virgin so am clock watching until I can go to the regulator.

Sorry things have been tough Em.

It is a long commute but not far Km wise - the traffic just doesn’t move. Yesterday the bus broke down. I’m still thinking about saving the pennies but not sure how long that will last.

No spending yesterday or today. Forgot it was a long weekend so might spend something on some nice cheese tomorrow. Am thinking of savoury pancake fillings to try as I have just opened a packet of pancakes.

I took a half-day this afternoon, to bring the car to the garage. Turns out the headlights issue is due to a faulty light switch. So the garage will order one in for me. They fixed a minor issue as well. €60 for today but obviously I'll have to pay more when they replace the switch.

DD went to a party last night at a friend's house (20 minutes away). I had to collect her at 1.30 a.m. DD was very sick last night and today also - either too many drinks or else very strong vodkas. I think she's over the worst of it now. She offered to pay for pizza for us both for dinner and I gladly accepted her offer 'cos I'm really tired after a broken night's sleep..

We're getting my brother a restaurant voucher for a retirement gift, as well as a book and some wine. There's a few of us chipping in, so it will be €20 each. I'm still finding it hard to believe that my siblings and I are approaching retirement age - well, some of us at any rate. In my head we're still squabbling teenagers .

We haven't had much of a summer and I've noticed the evenings are getting dark that little bit earlier. And I've seen a few Back to School photos on Facebook. I quite like autumn but I'm not relishing the expense of winter what with higher energy costs and the costs associated with Christmas etc. Think I'm really going to cut back this Christmas.

I've started buying a lotto ticket once a week. Not frugal but in the grand scheme of things, it's a small price to pay for the dream/hope of a big win.

kessie I'm a few days late but happy birthday anyway. Enjoy Blackpool.

Happier good idea re: recycling the kallax. A pity about the NCT but at least it's a minor thing.

Rum fingers crossed for the pay rise.

Curls glad you had a nice time on holiday.

Girlie what a nightmare re: the floors! Any chance you can borrow the money from a family member and pay them back in stages? I'm considering a career change too - why didn't I train to be a mechanic?

Big your family dinner sounds lovely and I know exactly what you mean about having done your duty. That's great about your DS getting work and paying off his overdraft - well, almost.

Half sounds like there's a bit of light at the end of the tunnel for you, in terms of buying building materials and white goods etc. But yes, it will be very difficult trying to live in a house with no kitchen or sitting room. Do you know how long that will be? Will it all be completed by Christmas? And your DH had surgery in the middle of it all - I don't know how you're still sane at this point!

em sorry to hear life's been crazy - hopefully things will calm down soon.

Nice to catch up properly - Hi to anyone I missed.

Sorry need I forgot to acknowledge your kind message about Leeds Fest and being on emergency standby! I had about a 2 min call from DS1 sounding all excited just about to go and watch one of the bands. Hope there isn’t too much disruption for your village with it all going on.

Thanks guys. I’m on leave now for a week then kids back in school. Phew. I think that’s a huge part of it - lack of routine.

it was dhs birthday on Thursday so we went out last night for dinner. It was not frugal. £226 for 2 of us.

went to a new restaurant here which cooks over open fire and uses predominantly local produce.

we had crab crumpets (more of a crab beignet than a crumpet), burratta with courgettes, ex dairy beef chop served with duck fat confit potatoes and local tomato and basil salad. Then I had strawberry tart with hay smoked custard.

the food was exquisite I’d have quite happily lived in the restaurant. Also had a delicious bottle of wine and a couple of cocktails. Such a lovely treat. (Back to beans on toast today!!!!)

next week is likely to be soendy too. School uniforms for dd (luckily most of ds’ summer stuff still fits so as they’re summer uniform until half term we’re good!), school shoes x2, lunch bags x2, trainers x 2, wellies x2……hair cuts, trip to vets….

in other news I was/am still struggling with my periods. I had my mirena removed (had an appointment with the consultant re the issues I was having) and we decided to remove it and then let my body reset. That was 3 weeks ago. On Tuesday of this week SUPRISE period. And on weds I made the mistake of wearing grey jeans to work and had to run out for emergency trousers……😩🤦🏻‍♀️

Yesterday was back to school shopping
£26 Next shoes
£26 M&S blouses
£8 Primark stationary and part of a birthday present
Plus £1.25 Pound land, £1.29 Card Factory, £10 Coop.

Also visited a cafe in town £19.20. Included an entrance fee as its a cat cafe, DD had asked to go.

Going to check my lists and make sure there's nothing else urgent needed for school / college. If that's the case aiming for a low spend bank holiday weekend to try to make up for the spendy summer

Sorry I haven't caught up, just trying to stay on the actual thread at the moment 🙈🙈🙈 but I am with you peeps in lack of routine and needing a change of career!

Was just thinking about you this week Em hope DH is ok now, there's a lot of COVID about again.
Kessie hope you've enjoyed Blackpool. We're only a few miles away but rarely go. They've done a lot of work on the seafront over the past few years & there's a really good cycle path along the coast now.
Girlie sorry about the flooring. All trades cost a fortune now. Hope your extra hours get sorted quickly.
Tayto maybe your dd will learn her lesson or maybe not! Horrible to watch as a parent, I've been there a good few times with our two but both are more sensible now.
Half hope things get sorted more quickly than you expect
Marthas our two haven't done the festival thing which I'm quite relieved about!
Rum that commute is extreme!

All good here. DH, dd & I are just outside Llandudno for the weekend, a bit of a celebration for dd going to uni. Had to pay for the cottage but trying to keep other costs down so we've got our walking shoes packed. Theres an NT garden not far away which looks good, the Great Orme & lots of coastal path to explore, but the pier will also get a visit!
Have done really well this week, medical books posted for eBay, 4 items sold on vinted, a few books on ziffit, nearly £100 in total. Have been over supplied with courgettes, tomatoes, plums & runner beans from mum's and our garden so have lots of blanched & frozen beans, frozen courgette fritters, courgette cakes in the planning stage & stewed plums. Then DH came back from ds' house in Somerset with 2 huge bags af Bramley apples! Some will be frozen & some will go into dh's cider press

Spendy day here. Been kitting DD out with uni stuff. I had got quite a bit from charity shops but even so have spent £139 in Asda homewares and £36 in dunelm (they gave us a student discount!) That’s kitchenware, towels, bedding, first aid stuff, toiletries and cleaning stuff though (trying to make myself feel better 😳) I had some money put aside and also got a pay increment this month. I went with my friend whose DD is also going to Manchester. The girls know each other from primary school but had lost touch at secondary - they are both quite shy in different ways so was good to get them together.
hope you’re having a lovely time north. Have heard from DS briefly at Leeds fest, going well so far 🤞🏻 Expecting to pick them up on Monday unless they bail out earlier!

Nights are coming in faster Tayto. This morning there was steam coming off the river - autumn is definitely on its way.

Sympathy for your struggles em and solidarity too. I had to ask work to work from the flat at one point as I couldn’t go more than 20 minutes without incident. Hope things settle in a good way.

Hope you’re enjoying your weekend North it sounds bliss. Gardens and walking.

You’re doing well kitting out your daughter Martha.

Spendy day here £8.58 on random unnecessary groceries and an unintended £350 on council tax. I’m certain I’d underpaid, though the council say otherwise, it was causing me stress so I’ve paid it. If I’m wrong it can carry over but if I’m right at least I don’t owe them anything.

Watching some more athletics and trying to distract myself about not having replied to his message yet or checked to see if I’ve had a reply from my solicitor.

north we had a lovely time in Blackpool. Nice apartments while squeezing in all the main activities! DD loved all of it and nice to have a change of scenery. That's a great veg haul. We stayed in Llandudno on the way back from Snowdonia a few years ago. Beautiful area 😍

martha thats exciting spending for Uni and sounds like money well spent!

em that food sounds divine 😋 sorry to hear about the period struggles. Hope that settles down.

Thanks for the belated birthday wishes tayto and good luck in the Lotto. I'm 51 so started retirement planning, but not going for a while yet. All my siblings in their 60s are retired now, such varying situations though!

Spends have been £40.25 Lidl, £16.50 Asda plus fuel which is in a weekly budget. Feel a bit more organised with a rough menu plan and a tank of fuel.

We had a lovely meal last night at the Indian restaurant. It was €39 each.

It's raining now and has that 'down for the day' look about it .

Flaky friend cancelled for breakfast yesterday, so I made a small saving. I went to see 'Oppenheimer' at the cinema with DD yesterday afternoon. It was really good but too long. It's one of those movies that I'm glad I saw on the big screen - I'm not sure if it would have had the same impact on my TV screen. I may have had a little nap in the middle of it . The cinema was quite warm and we had these lovely comfy recliner seats......

Took three bags of stuff to charity shop yesterday.

£40 riding. Then £57 at charity shop. Including a bnwt top from Hobbs, a red wool mini skirt from coast and a ralph Lauren polo denim button down shirt (£5!!!) win.